How Often to Water Beets
When I first started growing beets, I read that they were a thirsty crop, but then I also read that they only needed an inch of water. Over the years, I’ve learned not to focus on inches of water.
What I’ve learned is that beets require consistent moisture and that the water needs grow as the plant grows. That is what has helped me grow delicious beets throughout the year.
Moisture fluctuations lead to root cracking and misshapen roots.
How Much Water Do Beets Need
This is going to depend on three things - your soil, temperature, and the beet’s stage of growth.
Seedlings
When planting beet seeds, they’ll be about 1/2 inch deep under the soil. That’s not very far down. As the seeds germinate and start to sprout, they’ll need consistent water, but not deep watering.
At this stage, it’s important to keep the top four inches of soil moist, not soaked. If you stick your finger in the dirt, it should come out with a bit of soil on it. If not, it’s too dry.
At the same time, if you pick up a handful of soil, it should hold together for a few seconds before coming apart. If it falls apart immediately, it’s too dry and needs water. If it holds a form like a ball, it’s too wet and doesn’t need any water.
It’s important to keep the soil moist and not let it dry out during the first 6 weeks of growth. Not only can young sprouts die but it can also impact the size and yield of your crop later.
Mature Beet Plants
Mature beet plants can grow roots over 3 feet deep. While we don’t eat the entire root, only the top round portion, it’s still important to develop long roots. This helps the plant soak up moisture and nutrients from the soil, producing sweeter beets.
As a seedling, I only moderately soak my soil, but as the plant begins to mature, I water less frequently with more water. I’ve found this especially important when growing beets in containers or raised beds with commercial soils and potting mixes.
These soils drain well, but they also are harder to deep soak because they retain moisture well. For years I would water my beets in raised beds thinking that the soil was saturated to find out that the water never made it below 6”.
The best thing I’ve done is purchase a soil moisture meter which I stick in the ground while I water to determine when I’ve soaked the soil well enough, but not too much. I’ll talk more about this later.
Even though you are deep soaking at this stage, don’t let the topsoil dry out. When this has happened to me, I’ve had cracked beets.
Soil Considerations
Different soils drain and retain moisture differently. The best soils I’ve found require me to soak the soil with a hose on a gentle shower setting for about 20 to 30 seconds before the soil is moist below 7”. Those soils also dry out faster and require me to deep soak more often than when I plant in the ground.
In the ground, I have mostly clay which I will mix with compost. Clay and compost hold moisture like a hoarder. These soils require less water, less often because of this.
Temperature
I live in a very arid, dry climate. Even in the winter, we don’t get much rain. This means I have to water more often. With my early fall planting, my soil temperatures are toward the maximum tolerance for beets and I find that I am watering about every other day for young plants and up to 3 times per week for more mature plants when it’s 80°-90°F outside.
In the spring, I water much less because the soil temperatures are much lower.
How Often to Water Beets
I always create a water schedule for the different plants in my garden, including beets. Over time you’ll get to know your soil and temperatures, but in the beginning, it was hard for me to know when to water.
Here is how I tell how often to water my beets.
How Often to Water Beet Sprouts
As I mentioned earlier, throughout germination and early growth, it’s important to water more frequently and more moderately. There is no need to deep soak the ground. I water long enough so that the top 4 inches (about the depth of my finger) is moist.
I don’t use any fancy tools for this. I simply stick my finger in the ground to see if it comes out moist with a bit of dirt on it. If it comes out dirty, I skip watering. If it comes out dry with no dirt, I water it again.
If you’re using a soaker hose, drip line, or even a watering can, over time you’ll get a feel for how long you need to water before the topsoil is moist.
How Often to Water Beet Plants
As the plant matures, I water less frequently, but more deeply. In other words, more water, less often. This helps the taproot grow deeper which will result in better tasting, bigger beets.
I’ve used drip irrigation and watered with a hose. For both, I create a watering schedule by placing my soil moisture meter in the ground and watering until it says Normal. I don’t want the soil reading to be wet, but normal. Too much water can lead to diseases, insect infestations, or worse, plant death.
For the first two weeks after the plants start maturing, I check the soil daily with a moisture meter and keep track of how many days it takes until it doesn’t read normal, but reads dry. When it reads dry, I water again for the set amount of time I determined earlier.
After tracking this for a week or two, I have a good idea of how often to water my beets based on my average temperature, climate, and type of soil. This is the best way I’ve found to determine how often to water beets.
Natural Rainfall
In the winter months, we can get a lot of rain. If you live in a climate that has a lot of precipitation, don’t forget to take this into account.
One area that I messed up during my early years of gardening was thinking that the rain soaked the soil more than it did. If you get a heavy rainstorm where the rain comes really fast, a lot of that water doesn’t get absorbed into the ground. This is something that I’m not very aware of.
It’s also where a soil moisture meter comes in really handy because I can quickly check to see how wet the soil really is deeper in the ground without disturbing the roots.
How to Keep Your Soil Moist
Shade
When I plant beets in the fall, it’s still rather warm outside. And that warm, dry air also dries out my soil quickly. This is mostly a problem for me when I have young beets germinating and sprouting in the garden.
If the soil dries out, the young sprouts will die. During peak heat, I will sometimes use a 40% shade cloth which not only helps lower the soil temperatures but also helps the soil retain moisture.
If you have trouble keeping your soil moist during fall planting, try this. It’s helped me save a lot of water and heartache.
Mulch
Everyone knows that mulch can help retain soil moisture and keep temperatures low, but it also can harbor pests. For this reason, I never mulch after planting beets because when I do, I always have a pillbug (rolly pollies) explosion.
These little insects grow in number so fast and they eat all my seedlings overnight. So I choose not to mulch because if I do, I won’t have any beets left.
Because of this, I have to water more often, but that’s the price of where I live I suppose. Once the plants are more established, the pillbugs won’t bother them anymore and at that time I mulch my garden with some garden straw.
I’ve also used dried grass clippings from my lawn in the past. Just make sure you dry them out first and there aren’t any weeds or pests hiding out in them. Trust me, that’s a problem you don’t want to cause in your garden.
How to Water Beets
There are multiple methods of irrigation that I’ve found work well with beets. Besides a good old fashioned watering can or hose, I’ve found that drip irrigation also works well. I’m a fan of installing vortex sprayers on a 1/4” line in my raised beds and containers.
One vortex sprayer can cover several plants. The one’s I buy come installed on a small stake which I put almost completely in the ground so that the water doesn’t spray on the leaves of mature plants later. One sprayer can cover 4 to 6 plants depending on the setting and water pressure.
Drip emitters also work well, but you’ll need more of them. In the past I’ve placed a drip emitter, attached to a 1/4” polytube at the base of each plant. If you have them set up on an automatic timer, I would place a soil moisture meter in the ground next to each emitter prior to planting and run the drip line until the meter reads normal.
Time the whole process and then you’ll know how long to set your timer so each plant gets the appropriate amount of water.
It’s not as big of a concern with drip lines or small vortex sprayers, but when watering by hand or other methods, use caution to water gently. The edible taproot of the beet sticks out of the ground as it matures and it’s easy to wash away the soil around it.
Seedlings too are very delicate. The goal is always to mimic a light rainfall, not a thunderstorm dumping rain.
When to Water Beets
I always prefer to water in the morning just in case I do get the leaves wet. By watering early it gives the leaves time to dry off during the day which helps prevent fungal diseases.
There is also less water evaporation that happens in the early morning or early evening. If I don’t water in the morning, early evening is my second preferred time.
Signs of Too Much or Too Little Water
We can talk about water norms all day long, but the best thing you can do is to watch your plants for signs that they may have too much or too little water.
If beets have droopy leaves, this is a potential sign that the plant needs more water. I would stick a soil moisture meter in the ground and check the reading. If it comes back dry, give the plants some water.
When beet leaves start to yellow, that could be a sign of too much water. Again, stick a moisture meter in the ground and check the reading. If the ground is too wet, I would lay off the water for a bit, but don’t let the soil dry out completely. That can lead to cracked beet roots.
Beet Water Requirements FAQ
Should you water beets everyday?
The only time I water beets every day is when they are seedlings. From the time of planting, till they are 3-4” tall, I water more frequently.
For fall planting, my soil dries out faster due to the warmer weather of late summer and early fall so there are times when I do water every day. It’s important to keep the top 3 inches of soil moist when planting seeds and growing young plants because they don’t have established root systems yet.
Outside of that, I rarely water daily. And for spring plantings when the weather isn’t as warm, I almost never water every day, even when my beets are young.
Can you overwater beets?
Yes. Beets can have too much water. Too much water can reduce oxygen levels in the soil, and lead to root rot, diseases, and insect infestations.
The number one sign of overwatering a beet is when the leaves start to turn yellow.
Do beets like wet or dry soil?
Beets don’t like either. They like moist soil. If using a soil moisture meter, I prefer to keep my soil in the normal range. Not wet, not dry.
If you pick up a handful of soil, it should hold its form for a second before starting to fall apart. If it falls apart immediately, it’s too dry. If it forms a ball and holds, it’s too wet. Neither is good for beets.
Do beets like full sun or shade?
Beets prefer full sun which is 6 or more hours of direct sunlight, but they don’t like heat. Beets do grow in some shade, but they may not reach their full potential in terms of size.
How Often to Water Beets Recommended Reading
Best Soil for Beets [My Top 3 Picks]
Planting Beets
